The present invention relates to a method and device for folding women's tights on hose shaping machines.
As is known, in the hosiery industry, tights are heat treated prior to packing. In particular, they are normally subjected to a shaping process by stretching them over forms and heat treating them, e.g. in pressurized steam chambers, to set them permanently to the desired shape.
At present, known machines for shaping tights comprise a carousel conveyor fitted with forms onto which the tights are stretched and on which the tights are fed by the conveyor into a shaping chamber, e.g. a steam chamber, and subsequently into a drying chamber from which they are extracted for further processing.
The steam chamber of traditional machines is normally large enough to accommodate a number of forms at the same time, and the machines themselves present a large number of forms and are fairly bulky, mainly due to the size of the steam chamber. Which latter characteristic results in the consumption of a large amount of steam, and consequently in high running costs and damp working conditions.
Patent Application n. BO93A 000484, filed by the present Applicant, relates to a hose shaping machine featuring a carousel conveyor with a number of pairs of peripheral tubular forms, which are supplied with compressed air that comes out through holes at the top of the forms to blow the corresponding end of the tights towards withdrawal means at a removal station. The conveyor is fed in steps through a station where the tights are fitted onto the tubular forms, through at least one station where the tights are shaped inside a steam chamber for accommodating a pair of forms, and through the removal station where the tights are removed from the forms.
The above machine eliminates the former drawback whereby tights were treated on solid forms reproducing the finished shape, and the tubular forms enable the use of a compact steam chamber for treating one pair of forms at a time.
As shown by way of example in FIG. 6, the above patent application relates to the formation of tights folded trouser-fashion, whereby the legs 100 are stretched in planes perpendicular to that defined by the sides of body 101.
In the above solution, fitting the tights onto the forms is fairly difficult and involves a certain amount of force, which, besides making more work for operator, may damage the tights, particularly, as is normally the case, when working with very fine yarn.
To simplify fitment and removal of the tights, some shaping machines feature collapsible forms comprising, for example, a pair of hinged metal elements which are brought together and parted by means of appropriate mechanisms. Such forms, however, are obviously complex and expensive, and fail to provide for troublefree fitment and removal, due to the sharp projection defined by the foot and heel of the tights.